NSSRA in the Community
"I don’t do peer mentoring
for the credit or to put it down
on college applications, I do it
because it is a genuinely fun
part of my stressful day. It’s one
of the few times where I can just
be happy and have fun."
Sarah Erickson,
GBS Peer Mentor
NSSRA and Glenbrook South High
School Partner in Peer Mentoring
Workshop
NSSRA staff spent a morning at Glenbrook
South High School facilitating a disability
awareness workshop for the school’s incoming
group of peer mentors. The workshop is an
annual event in partnership with GBS, and
helps to support the school’s nearly three-
decade running Peer Mentoring program.
In addition to training and question and
answer sessions, the bulk of the morning
was set aside to guide the thirty students in
attendance through a series of “Rush Hour”
activities designed to give mentors experience
in handling some of the challenges a person
with a disability may deal with on a daily
basis. Seventeen activities in all, there were
several stations set up throughout the room
and students were given only a few minutes
to complete each task. Challenges included
everything from making a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich with one hand, sorting beads
and small objects while wearing thick gloves,
assembling puzzles blindfolded, and using
binoculars to walk a zig-zag line.
“At the end of the morning, one of the students
began by saying how frustrated she felt by so
many of the activities, but was able to laugh it
off and move on because she knew it was only
part of the training,” recalled Dani Kern, NSSRA
Recreation Manager. “She went on to explain
that it really put into perspective for her that
others may not be able to laugh it off or move
on because this is a real struggle many of her
peers experience every day.”
Pictured: Sarah Erickson (right) cheers on
students tasked with making peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches one-handed.
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The eye-opening experience that many
mentors have at the workshop continues
throughout the year when they are paired
with one or several students, sometimes in
a special education classroom or sometimes
in an activity outside the classroom, like P.E.
The exercise of putting oneself in another’s
shoes is just what allows them to bond and
create relationships with their peers. It’s part
Register online at register.nssra.org.